Page 5 of Built for Her Love

Grabbing the basket from Athena, I grabbed one of her hands in my other one and led her around the side of the house to a large oak tree that would offer us plenty of shade. She dug around in the basket and pulled out a flannel blanket, spreading it out on the ground. Then, she kicked her flip flops off and sat down, her legs curled beneath her. I took a seat as well and set the basket in front of us.

“Here,” she said, handing me a container divided into two sections. One side had two sandwiches cut into eight neat triangles, and the other side had apple slices. I took it from her with a grateful smile before setting it on my lap. Curving my hand around the side of her neck, I pulled her lips to mine, softly kissing her in thanks. Her lips softened beneath mine, and she moaned, pushing her body closer so her chest was pressed flat to mine.

“Eat,” I rumbled, gently pulling back from her though it damn near killed me to do so. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fuck her or finger her or anything else I wanted to do on someone else’s property.

“Sorry,” she apologized, her cheeks flushing. “Seeing you all hot and sweaty and dirty just does something to me,” she confessed. I winked at her, filing that information away to return to at a later time. Opening my container, I grabbed one of the triangles, eating half of it in one bite. I hummed in appreciation. These were good as fuck—just the right amount of mustard. I hadn’t realized I’d been so damn hungry.

“Thanks for this,” I murmured once we were done eating. “I was apparently starving.”

She snorted. “I figured. Cecily said you don’t normally eat breakfast.” She patted my stomach, and a chuckle rumbled from my chest. “That’s bad for your health, handsome. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

I just shrugged. I never ate breakfast. Coffee was usually all I needed to get my day started, and that wouldn’t be changing anytime soon.

I laid back on the blanket and drew her down beside me. She rested her head on my shoulder without complaint, and I curled my arm around her, closing my eyes. She sighed in contentment, and I loved that neither of us had to say a word to fill the silence.

Finding someone I was comfortable being in silence with was rare. And I knew I was a lucky son of a bitch for finding her.

* * *

Adler:

What’s going on with you and Cecily’s dancer?

Her name is Athena.

Still didn’t answer my question, brother.

Because I’m ignoring your question.

Come on. Cecily is bugging the shit out of me, and she doesn’t feel comfortable enough asking Athena yet. Just tell me.

I will when I’m damn good and ready, and not a moment sooner, Prez. Don’t push me on this.

Fucking hell, brother. Opening up sometimes won’t kill you.

Ignoring you.

I can’t deal with you sometimes.

I just smirked at my phone before setting it down on the coffee table in front of me, turning my attention back to the ball game on TV. Athena wasn’t working tonight, so I hadn’t gone to the club. It was the first night I hadn’t shown up in a long time, and I knew Chelsea would be running her mouth come tomorrow. No doubt, the gossip train would be running at full speed with the news of me not showing up on the same night Athena didn’t work. It wouldn’t matter to anyone that I hadn’t seen her since she left after lunch was over and I had to get back to work.

But that was fine. I was good at keeping silent. I wouldn’t tell anyone a goddamn thing. If Athena wanted anyone to know anything, she was more than welcome to offer information. But not me. I wouldn’t accidentally betray her trust.

This thing with her was too precious to risk destroying.

And honestly, I wanted to keep whatever was between us as solely ours for a while.

It had been a long fucking time since something was justmine. And I was enjoying keeping her all to myself.

four

Seb

I wasnervous as hell to take Athena out for dinner tonight. I couldn’t remember the last time I took a woman anywhere, to be real. I probably hadn’t dated since high school, back when I thought dating was a mandatory thing to get laid.

But tonight, I found myself not even caring if I got laid, just as long as I got to spend some time with that insanely beautiful woman. She was upending my entire world, and I couldn’t even bring myself to care about all of the changes. Normally, change was something that freaked me out, but with her, it just feltright.

I shot a text off to Athena as I stared across the lot at my bike and my truck, wondering which I should take.

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